Monday, February 09, 2015

Mon Feb 9th Todays News

On Bolt Report an ongoing policy is that any Islam post can only be on the pinned leader. Normal rules apply in that if it is merely foul and abusive it will be deleted. Otherwise comments are welcome. ===The leadership spill vote this morning for the Liberal party was predictable and sadly inconclusive. Because the conservative Liberal Party doesn't have group think, members have differing agenda, it makes what was probably Malcolm Turnbull's latest attempt so calculated and nasty. It is years in the making, and whispers are calculated for maximum damage sometimes go awry, and so successive state Liberal governments have foundered at election in QLD, Vic and SA, as well as in '07 and '10. A terrible allegation, and cheaply defended, but known for its' part in '07 and '10, where Turnbull had upset Costello's run in '07, and had fought to regain a challenging position since leading the leadership in '09. At the time, in '07, Costello had not seen it as his responsibility to dump on the ambitious Turnbull, as he viewed it as a modern party requiring planned succession and the game Howard put before him he scorned. Turnbull is talented, but it is easily overstated how talented he is. Turnbull can work inside colleagues and whisper and cajole because he has extraordinary resources he has earned. But he is only skilled at doing what he wants. Turnbull can undermine and promote difficulties, like PUP, who can be exploited for their prejudices exposing Liberal policy. But Turnbull has not got the gift of working with opposition to achieve the difficult, as Abbott has many times. Abbott was assaulted as Health Minister for his Catholic Views but he hadn't failed in his policy. When a possible son was discovered, Abbott welcomed the horrified Green Supporter. Abbott has worked in Aboriginal communities and with country fire fighters with equal aplomb. It is difficult imagining Turnbull having that grace. The leadership qualities of Mr Abbott were apparent when he lead world leaders over MH17 in Ukraine. And while one might not agree with him, one must recognise his character. Malcolm Turnbull has not got that character. When given the leadership and faced with an agenda which would lead forward, Turnbull embraced climate alarmism. He was faced with Hockey and might still have been leader today had Hockey's dithering over the morality of a carbon tax not been belled by Abbott. But what followed is unacceptable from a loyal member. The memes of Mr Abbott being a 'Dr No' or women hating have been spun for the Liberal Party with backbenchers encouraged to liken responsible decision making to the hurtful memes. So that even press secretary Credilin is undermined in ways that are pernicious and plausible to those who don't know. Hockey's budget is not the problem, the measures asked for are essential. But the opposition from PUP and ALP mean that measures can't pass. Nothing that has been blocked is unreasonable or unsupportable. $7 for a doctor's visit is considered nothing elsewhere in the world. Reform is needed for education to keep it affordable. Changes need to be made to welfare to keep it. But Turnbull's whispers have it that a change in treasurer would mean the measures could pass. A change in treasurer, press secretary and leader is the promise. But a change in policy is the reality .. as well as a change in government, for the ALP to seize the reigns of government again while still unreformed, as they have in Qld and Vic. Turnbull is a moderate. He is a meaningless promise. Empty. Give him the honour of PM, and he will treat it as others treat a knighthood. Turnbull cannot remain in government. He has nothing to offer except overweening pride.

2014

Today is the anniversary of the late unlamented Joseph McCarthy starting the second red scare in 1950 by declaring that many in the state department were communists. Akerman parallels McCarthy with the ABC, and I must say that McCarthy is better than that. McCarthy was right that there had been communist influences in the state department and throughout the US. He was wrong in the way he prosecuted the case, bulldozing freedoms we take for granted. By way of contrast, the ABC is wrong on every level to be partisan. Wrong in reporting favourably for the left when responsible journalists would take a balanced middle road. Wrong to ignore corruption festering among those she supports, or to denounce as corrupt on no basis those she opposes. McCarthy, by way of contrast, did what he was elected to do. Miranda Devine has posted a few brilliant articles on drugs, Schapelle, our diggers and pedophiles .. no story connected. Our diggers deserve honour. Drugs are a scourge on society and druggies should go and die in Portugal where it is legal. Schapelle is over rated, apparently protecting drug dealers. There is a royal commission going on into pedophiles being protected through institutional abuse. I know this because I submitted to it on May 21st 2013 and have never heard back from it regarding my submission. I was so concerned, I approached a local member, and was emailed by a sergeant of the police who wrote that my testimony was of interest to the commission. Not having heard back from them is worrying for me, as I had written how desperate my circumstances were, being denied work in my profession and unable to find work elsewhere. I've never been unemployed since I was eighteen years old, often working three jobs and undertaking further study. But I've been unemployed for almost seven years now, The highly partisan press haven't investigated after senior ALP identities apparently asked them not to. If I don't hear favourably from the royal commission soon I will be forced to sell my home. I have no where to go. I live in the most deprived suburb in NSW. Four months ago, my place was flooded for two days with raw sewage. My home contents, Allianz, did a good job, although I'm rope-able that they valued 340 of my largest books at $5 each, well below any replacement value. However GIO, my strata insurer, have delayed and obstructed, so that only part of the unit was repainted. They still have not done kitchen tiling .. they might begin tomorrow. When they begin, they will move my refrigerator and oven for two days. When they finish, they will have not gone near the cockroach hotel that the sewage fed in the kitchen. My tip is not to insure anything with GIO. They might be cheap with premiums, but if they aren't competent, you are better off not paying premiums.

===For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball

Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may; I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - edLorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.

I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.net) which will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free.

1913 – A group of meteorswas visibleacross much of the eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude that the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.

1920 – The Svalbard Treaty was signed, recognizing Norwegian sovereignty over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, but all signatories were also given equal rights to engage in commercial activities on the islands.

1913 – A group of meteorsis visible across much of the eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.

Tim Blair – Monday,February 09,2015 (3:51am)

Tony Abbott will enter this morning’s crucial party room meeting to face a verdict on his leadership under the shadow of the Coalition’s worst polling figures since his potential rival Malcolm Turnbull led the Liberal party in 2009.

The latest Newspoll, taken exclusively at the weekend for The Australian, also reveals that Mr Abbott is asking his Liberal colleagues to re-endorse him with his personal approval at record lows and the most dismal ranking for any prime minister since Paul Keating in 1994.

There is only one positive in this poll for Abbott, and even that points to further divisions within the Liberal partyshould a spill occur and Turnbull become Prime Minister:

The poll also finds that Mr Turnbull is the least popular of the three among Liberal voters, with Mr Abbott the top choice among the party faithful, followed by Ms Bishop.

Tim Blair – Monday,February 09,2015 (2:47am)

One deadly declaration hangs above the chilling prospect of a Coalition government ruled by Malcolm Turnbull. In October 2009, then opposition leader Turnbull announced: “I will not lead a party that is not as committed to effective action on climate change as I am.”

That should give Australia its clearest indication of which way our nation may be headed if votes fall the wrong way this morning. Turnbull is a Prius-driving multi-millionaire warmy – the sort of person who, having made his own fortune, now wants to put economic barricades in front of anyone else attempting to do the same thing.

The instantaneous reach of Twitter has made it possible for women to have these conversations in ways that can no longer be discounted or silenced. That’s power.

It’s true! Before Twitter, women barely made it to their third or fourth hour of conversation before some man turned up and ruined everything by, I don’t know, asking them to pay the phone bill or something.

Tim Blair – Monday,February 09,2015 (1:52am)

A record 19 police cars have been hit by civilian drivers during New Hampshire’s exceptionally snowy winter:

Officials said it’s amazing that no one has been killed in the accidents on New Hampshire roads. They said the number of cruisers that have been struck since November is unprecedented, and while police are looking at ways to improve safety, they said they need the help of the public.

The 19 crashes represent a 300 percent increase over the rate of crashes seen in the past 10 years.

Five of the struck police cars were write-offs. As a noted authority on the art and science of snow driving, I find these numbers appalling.

Tim Blair – Monday,February 09,2015 (12:27am)

According to his own network, US NBC anchorman and managing editor Brian Williams is “one of the most trusted journalists of our time.” According to Williams himself, however, he’s a total fraud who has been repeating a massive lie for more than a decade.

Well, that’s not exactly how Williams puts it. Last week, after finally being caught out falsely claiming he’d been aboard a helicopter that was hit by enemy fire in Iraq in 2003, Williams blamed “the fog of memory over 12 years” for his chopper whopper.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has just made a complete idiot of himself.
First, he moved a motion of no-confidence in Tony Abbott after only a
few questions in Question Time, wasting a great chance to embarrass the
Prime Minister. It was as if he hadn’t done his homework.
But worse was to come.
To back up his motion, he gave a speech attacking ... Malcolm Turnbull. He had clearly thought Turnbull would win this morning, and hadn’t had the wit to change tactics.
When this was pointed out to him by Christopher Pyne, Shorten tried to
wing it. His speech degenerated in the ramble of complaints.
Complete joke.
The minute the Liberals can attack Shorten the way they’ve attacked each
other, more voters will see how totally unprepared he is for high
office.
UPDATE
Tanya Plibersek was little better. She started by whingeing about poll
figures for Abbott. If Parliament passed no confidence motions in Prime
Ministers every time they got bad poll figures, Gillard would not have
lasted six months.
And the sheer hide of Shorten and Plibersek protesting about leadership
disunity and treachery. Shorten! The man who knifed two Labor leaders in
just three years!
UPDATE
A fired-up Abbott then goes Shorten like a man celebrating the new power in his limbs. Liberal hearts would have lifted.

Tony Abbott is changing.
At his press conference this afternoon he says:

- his government bit off more than it could chew with the last Budget.
- it will pick fewer fights.
- it will drop some of those things that simply can’t get through the Senate
- “I’ve tried my colleague’s patience”.
- changed the way staff appointments are made.
- at least every two montns the chairs of backbench committees will meet him.
- every month at least the full cabinet will discuss matters.
- “All of us have had a good long hard look at ourselves.”
- “This has been a very chastening experience.”

How many other women in this country have been subjected to the savage cruelty that Channel 9 has heaped on Gina Rinehart.
Yes, I know she is very rich. Yes, I know she is a conservative - a crime in polite circles.
But she is also a human being. A woman.
I should declare that I consider her a friend. I also admire her energy
and vision, and the fact that she has created jobs for thousands of
Australians. And, for the record, I again disclose that she is also an
important shareholder of Network 10, which runs the News Corp-produced The Bolt Report.
But she could be an ABC director and I’d say the same: this is just mean.

Despite repeatedly bringing it to Nine CEO David Gyngell’s attention,
many scenes broadcast last night were fictitious, unfounded or grossly
distorted, and some simply never occurred.
I worked for Lang Hancock and have been with Mrs Rinehart’s company
Hancock Prospecting since 1991 so I have a good grasp on what actually
took place…
Since starting promotion of the show, Channel 9 has not bothered to
fact-check anything despite repeated offers when people have pointed out
mistakes.
Sadly Channel 9 has seemingly gone out of its way to cause undue damage
and upset to those currently living and the memory of those no longer
with us.
Among the glaring errors:

- Despite the portrayal, Mr Hancock and Mrs Rinehart had a loving,
father/daughter relationship, and were together throughout the funeral
of Hope Hancock, and to portray otherwise is wrong.
- Mrs Rinehart was very close to her mother and did not continue to
holiday or honeymoon in the United States when her mother was dying as
the show has suggested. That is a disgusting implication. There was no
phone call to Mrs Rinehart to come home during her short honeymoon.
- Mrs Rinehart did not participate in or condone doing deals with
Romania’s Nicolae Ceausescu, nor did she or her father endorse a
presentation to an investor group using a nuclear device for anti
environmental intent. That never happened.
- Mr Hancock never told Mrs Rinehart that no one could ever love her, or
that her husband never loved her. The scene was made up and untrue. Her
relationship with Mr Frank Rinehart was very loving, and her mother
loved her son in law also.
- Nor was there a scene where Mr Hancock said terrible things about his daughter’s appearance.

I wasn’t there. I do not know.
Was Channel Nine there? Does it know the truth of the savage claims it portrays as true?
Whatever, this is her side of the story.
UPDATE
Gina Rinehart in the 1990s:

Tony Abbott survives the spill motion: 61 to 39.
He won more votes than he feared but fewer than he’d like.
All that damage caused by Malcolm Turnbull and others - for this?
You would assume Abbott has been given a last chance of some months.
But Turnbull may do this maths:

Number of ministers, parliamentary secretaries and whips who were
obliged to vote against the spill: 35. (Let’s assume none, even
Turnbull, ratted in the semi-secret ballot.)
Number of ministers, parliamentary secretaries and whips who would, if allowed, vote for Turnbull: say, 13:
Add the 13 to the 39 who voted for the spill: 52.

That is a narrow majority of the 102 Liberal MPs.
But did all the 39 who voted for the spill want Turnbull? I know some
preferred Julie Bishop. There there’s the one informal vote and the
Queensland MP, Ross Vasta, who couldn’t make it to the meeting.
So what’s Turnbull’s next move? What’s Abbott’s?
UPDATE
Tony Abbott on TV:

The Liberal Party has dealt with the spill motion and now this matter is
behind us. We want to end the disunity and the uncertainty which
destroyed two Labor governments and give you the good government that
you deserve.
When you elect a government, when you elect a prime minister, you
deserve to keep that government and that prime minister until you have a
chance to change your mind.
I love this country and I will do my best to help this country succeed.

He spoke after this tip from the ABC’s Barrie Cassidy:

Never mind. How about this prediction, then?:

If wishes were fishes…
One problem with all of us in political journalism now making
predictions is that we become tempted to do all we can to make our
predictions come true and so seem a seer.
Will the commentators who tipped Abbott was finished now feel the need
to prove themselves right? Will they give Abbott a fair go?
UPDATE
My take, as put on Channel 10 this morning.
All this destabilising and backstabbing - and for what? A 61 to 39 defeat that simply weakens the government and the party?
Malcolm Turnbull could have stopped this nonsense dead, and chose not to. He could have waited, but put ambition first.

When future generations look back on the global-warming scare of the
past 30 years, nothing will shock them more than the extent to which the
official temperature records – on which the entire panic ultimately
rested – were systematically “adjusted” to show the Earth as having
warmed much more than the actual data justified.
Two weeks ago, under the headline “How we are being tricked by flawed
data on global warming”, I wrote about Paul Homewood, who, on his Notalotofpeopleknowthat
blog, had checked the published temperature graphs for three weather
stations in Paraguay against the temperatures that had originally been
recorded. In each instance, the actual trend of 60 years of data had
been dramatically reversed, so that a cooling trend was changed to one
that showed a marked warming…
Following my last article, Homewood checked a swathe of other South
American weather stations around the original three. In each case he
found the same suspicious one-way “adjustments”. First these were made
by the US government’s Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN). They
were then amplified by two of the main official surface records, the
Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss) and the National Climate Data
Center (NCDC), which use the warming trends to estimate temperatures
across the vast regions of the Earth where no measurements are taken.
Yet these are the very records on which scientists and politicians rely
for their belief in “global warming”.
Homewood has now turned his attention to the weather stations across
much of the Arctic, between Canada (51 degrees W) and the heart of
Siberia (87 degrees E). Again, in nearly every case, the same one-way
adjustments have been made, to show warming up to 1 degree C or more
higher than was indicated by the data that was actually recorded.
This has surprised no one more than Traust Jonsson, who was long in
charge of climate research for the Iceland met office… Jonsson was
amazed to see how the new version completely “disappears” Iceland’s “sea
ice years” around 1970, when a period of extreme cooling almost
devastated his country’s economy....
Of much more serious significance, however, is the way this wholesale
manipulation of the official temperature record – for reasons GHCN and
Giss have never plausibly explained – has become the real elephant in
the room of the greatest and most costly scare the world has known. This
really does begin to look like one of the greatest scientific scandals
of all time.

(T)o his credit, [Paul Barry on Media Watch] did
raise a… matter that I suggest is worthy of a full-scale internal
­review within the ABC’s news ­division — the decision to lead the
morning news on the revelation that columnist Andrew Bolt had poured
scorn on the Prime Minister. Since when did a columnist’s viewpoint
become national news?
It must have been very flattering for Bolt, but it was a demonstration of insane news judgment.

Well, I wouldn’t mind so much if the ABC actually treated all my opinions as national news, and not just the ones that suit its staff’s political agenda.
Here are two it could use to lead tomorrow’s news bulletins:

Andrew Bolt says Bill Shorten is not fit to lead the country.
Andrew Bolt reveals there’s been virtually no global warming for 16 years.

Night after night on 2GB I’ve been rung by livid Liberals threatening to quit the party if Turnbull is made leader…
To many, Turnbull is seen as too far to the Left – a fake who once toyed
with joining the Labor Party and still touts many of Labor’s pet
causes, from global warming alarmism to same sex marriage.
They haven’t donated to and fought for the Liberal Party just to have it
hijacked by Labor-lite – by a man whose home page doesn’t even include
the word “Liberal” or show the Liberal logo.
They would rather lose an election than their principles.

While the poll showed the Government at a crisis levels with a two party
preferred vote of 57/43 in favour of Labor, the Coalition party
faithful still ranked Mr Abbott as preferred leader over Malcolm
Turnbull by a margin of 54/40.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal MPs across the nation have received
correspondence from long time Liberal party members vowing to tear up
their memberships if Mr Abbott is rolled.
Multiple Liberal MPs received close to 300 emails, per electorate, from
the party faithful at the weekend with support for Prime Minister Tony
Abbott running at “20-1"…

West Australian MP Ian Goodenough, who hails from Julie Bishop
heartland, said his constituents had demanded Mr Abbott remains Prime
Minister.
“My emails are running at a ratio of 20 to 1 support for the Prime
Minister and Facebook is around 10 to 1,’’ he told The Daily Telegraph
last night.
Mr Goodenough revealed he received about 250 emails on the issue at the weekend…
South Australian MP Tony Pasin said he had received more correspondence
on the leadership issue than any other issue since he has been in
parliament.
He confirmed most were from Liberal Party voters warning against a change in leadership…
Victorian MP Dan Tehan will support Mr Abbott on the advice of his
constituents after he revealed last week that “the feedback I have
received is that people want a government who is united.”
Senator Arthur Sinodinos was believed to have received widespread
backlash after he confirmed he would support the leadership spill
yesterday morning…
Conservative commentators Alan Jones and Ray Hadley have received dozens
of emails and phone calls during their 2GB radio programs from Liberal
supporters voicing anger at the potential change in leadership.

“I have been approached by quite a number of MPs to get my view and I
have told them essentially that the commonsense reaction is to reject
the spill motion and give the Prime Minister some time,” Mr Howard told
The Australian.
The Liberal Party’s most successful leader in recent years, who had Mr
Abbott and Mr Turnbull as ministers in his government, admitted that
“clearly changes are needed” from Mr Abbott. “But given his achievement
in leading the Liberals back to government in such a short time he
should be given more time to make those changes,” he said.

Paul Keating in 1993 and John Howard in 2001 faced record low
polling, adverse public reaction to budget and policy measures, internal
dissent and the prospect of massive election losses.
Both men went on to win their next election and, in Howard’s case, the
next two elections to become Australia’s second-longest serving prime
minister. This was a man who, as opposition leader in 1988, was written
off as “Mr 18%” and asked on the cover of The ­Bulletin magazine why he
bothered with politics…
In January 1992, Labor ­[under Keating] recorded its lowest Newspoll
­primary vote on record, 34 per cent, compared with the ­Coalition’s 52
per cent… In February 1993, just before the election, satisfaction with
Keating as prime minister was 26 per cent and dissatisfaction was
running at 63 per cent…
In early 2001, the Howard government was reeling from reaction to the
GST, high petrol prices, a loss of faith with the public, state election
losses in Western ­Australia and Queensland, and the St Patrick’s day
massacre in the federal electorate of Ryan, which the Liberals lost with
a 10 per cent swing against them… In February 2001, the Liberal primary
vote was 31 per cent. It dropped to 27 per cent in March and to a low
of 26 per cent before the budget in May.

The latest Newspoll, taken ­exclusively at the weekend for The
Australian, also reveals that Mr ­Abbott is asking his Liberal
­colleagues to re-endorse him with his personal approval at record lows
and the most dismal ranking for any prime minister since Paul Keating in
1994.
The Newspoll reveals that voters would overwhelmingly prefer Mr Turnbull
or deputy leader Julie Bishop to be prime minister instead of Mr
Abbott.
However, the poll also finds that Mr Turnbull is the least popular of
the three among Liberal ­voters, with Mr Abbott the top choice among the
party faithful, followed by Ms Bishop…
Mr Turnbull’s support is overwhelmingly among Labor voters, where he has
a dazzling lead of 83 per cent to 9 per cent over Mr Abbott. But
Liberal supporters back Mr Abbott over Mr Turnbull by a solid 54 per
cent to 40 per cent…
In two-party terms, based on preference flows from the last election,
the government’s vote has crashed to 43 per cent with Labor on 57 per
cent. It is the worst result for the Coalition since November 2009, in
the final days of Mr Turnbull’s 14-month leadership.

Note: this is a poll of fewer than 1200 people.
UPDATE
Samantha Maiden tweets:

Arthur Sinodinos is the brains behind this entire spill operation. PMO
treated him with utter disrespect, seemingly blind to the danger.

The Baird government has overcome the dysfunction
of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s federal government and increased its
support over the last three months, according to the latest
Fairfax-Ipsos poll.
The Baird Coalition’s two-party preferred vote increased by 2 per cent
to 56 per cent using preference flows from the 2011 election.

Then there’s the coulds and mights and steam-venting:

Eight per cent of people who voted for the Liberals
at the 2011 election said the performance of the Abbott government had
changed their voting intention for the March 28 election. But 19 per
cent said that if Mr Abbott was replaced as Prime Minister it would
change their vote at the state poll.

MAYBE Malcolm Turnbull could indeed save the Liberals if he replaces
Tony Abbott as Prime Minister at today’s meeting of Liberal MPs.

But that’s only if this arrogant and self-serving man stopped being the Malcolm Turnbull we actually know.
Is that possible? Really?
And the real danger is that the change still won’t work, leaving the Liberals torn to bits for nothing.
Yesterday’s Galaxy poll already suggested Turnbull would still lose an
election to Labor, 49 per cent to 51, and that’s before he’s come under
any pressure from Labor and the anti-Abbott ABC.
Night after night on radio I’ve been rung by livid Liberals threatening to quit the party if Turnbull is made leader.
Even the Liberal MP moving today’s motion to put Abbott’s leadership to a
vote, Luke Simpkins, warned colleagues last week that Liberal members
revolted against Turnbull the last time he led them.
(Read full article here.)

How low can the ABC go?
In tonight’s main TV news bulletin it quoted anonymous twitter abuse of
Tony Abbott by someone known only as “JS”.
No one knows who this anonymous person is, or why their opinion is worth
more than that of any other Australian. The reporter just fished the
comment out of the sewer to attack Abbott.
Would the ABC have ever quoted anonymous Twitter abuse of Julia Gillard?
This is not reporting but editorialising by proxy.
UPDATE
ABC Queensland state politics reporter Melinda Howells congratulates JS for having his anti-Abbott tweet broadcast by the ABC:

The ABC at times seems just a bigger version of the Left’s
Twittersphere. The easier interaction between the ABC, Greens, Labor,
activists and Leftist trolls is unmistakable.
(Thanks to reader Peter H.)

Young men in one Sydney movie theatre could be heard saying: “This is sick” (excellent), as Belfort and pals snorted ­cocaine, popped pills, smoked crack and screwed hookers.

This is a problem, in case you haven’t noticed.Illicit drug use is rife as Baby Boomers take their habits into old age and Gen Y launches a new era of excess.

And the problem, for some reason, is now worse in Australia than in any other developed country, according to a 2012 UN report.

In Sydney, cocaine busts have reportedly doubled in a year, with mothers in Double Bay restaurants snorting lines in the toilet before the school run.

A study in the Medical Journal of Australia last September found ambulance call-outs for crystal meth, aka ice, had tripled in two years.

When the Howard government launched its Tough on Drugs strategy in 1997, drug use plummeted for the first time in three decades. Best of all, teenage drug experimentation fell, according to the Australian Secondary School Students ­Alcohol and Drug Survey.

But then a new laissez faire government arrived, and the figures show drug use rose steadily from 2008.

We now demonise the legal drugs tobacco and alcohol. Yet we turn a blind eye to the illicit drugs which are increasingly glamourised by Hollywood and pop culture.

You can’t smoke a cigarette on the silver screen but the Wolf of Wall Street can snort coke out of a prostitute’s anus. If it’s not DiCaprio giving new meaning to crack cocaine, it’s Miley Cyrus singing to her tween fans about Molly, aka MDMA.

Last week, after Hoffman died from heroin, Australia’s chief drug liberaliser, Dr Alex Wodak, was still using the good name of St Vincent’s Hospital, where he is “emeritus consultant” to downplay the dangers. Heroin, he told the ABC, could be used recreationally.

“It’s a risk, no doubt about it,” Dr Wodak said. “But there are also people who go on and use and have very functional, creative, significant lives where they contribute to the community and continue to use heroin from time to time.”
Right on cue, The Guardian published an article claiming it wasn’t heroin but the prohibition on drugs that caused Hoffman’s death.

You could hardly send a more dangerous message at a time when authorities in Australia fear a return of the heroin epidemic of the 1990s.

A more realistic response came from Hoffman’s friend, scriptwriter and recovering addict Aaron Sorkin, who wrote last week that Hoffman “did not die from an overdose of heroin - he died from heroin”.

“We should stop implying that if he’d just taken the proper amount then everything would have been fine,” Sorkin said.

Hoffman once told Sorkin: “If one of us dies of an overdose, probably 10 people who were about to won’t.”

In other words, “our deaths would make news and maybe scare someone clean”.

But even if Hoffman’s death did save 10 lives, it’s nothing to the legions of people switched onto the glamour of drugs this Oscar season by Martin Scorsese’s shameful movie.

The only emotion they expressed was anger that the government had been so slack on drug law enforcement in the 1990s when they became hooked as teenagers, catching the so-called “smack express” train to Cabramatta to openly score. It was so easy, and they were left with a lifelong affliction.
Now we’re doing it again; governments and police looking for the easy way out, happy to believe the lies of drug liberalisers and appease the drug-soaked chattering classes.

Meanwhile, the so-called ­alcohol-fuelled violence we are currently so worked up about ignores the fact that alcohol consumption is plummetting - we’re drinking less alcohol than we have in almost a decade, and 30 per cent less than the peak in 1974-75.

What has changed is the nature and ­extent of illicit drug use. Where alcohol is a depressant that makes you sleepy, stimulant drugs keep you alert to drink more and, sometimes, to become violent.

A decade ago John Howard showed you could change drug habits. But we gave up the war almost as soon as we started.

JUST FADE AWAY SCHAPELLE:

NOW that Schapelle Corby has been granted parole after nine years in a Bali jail, is it too much to ask that she fade into obscurity?

It’s unlikely someone planted the marijuana that was found by Indonesian police in her boogy board cover that fateful day, as she always claimed. But, either way, it’s not the biggest mystery on the planet. The whole sordid story, including her late father’s drug links, has been told enough.

Schapelle is free but she

DIGGERS DESERVE OUR GRATITUDE

AS General Peter Cosgrove prepares to become Governor-General, and as some try to smear the good name of our navy for political purposes, it’s worth remembering the often unsung contributions our troops have made to creating a safer world.

One such contribution was finally recognised, 22 years after the fact, in the recent Australia Day awards.

Corporal Gavin Lee and fellow Australian Diggers who served in Cambodia as part of the UN peacekeeping force from 1992 to 1993, were honoured with a Meritorious Unit Citation for courage and “sustained outstanding service in warlike operations”.

It was dangerous work in the dying days
of Pol Pot’s civil war, helping to run free and fair elections.

Winning official approval for the award has been a long struggle for the soldiers.

But they served their nation proud and deserve our thanks as much today as ever.

PAEDOPHILIA BY ANOTHER NAME

COMMUNITY Services minister Pru Goward told 2GB radio last week that forced marriages of underage girls may be “quite common” in southwest Sydney, western Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

She was speaking about the case of a 12-year-old girl allegedly married off to a 26-year-old man in a Muslim ceremony sanctioned by her own parents.

That is paedophilia in anyone’s language.

If it so common, the police should be doing something about it immediately.

(POST BUMPED FROM LAST NIGHT, WITH UPDATE)
Yes, Bill Glasson was a very strong candidate for the Coalition. But the result in the Griffith byelection will shock Labor.
Consider:

- The Abbott Government has hit its stride only in the past few weeks, after a sluggish start..
- The Government has been under ferocious media assault.
- The Newman Government has been under attack for its cuts.
- The Abbott Government plans many more cuts soon, and has announced some already.

True, Labor’s past member was Kevin Rudd, and his personal vote would have been lost with his resignation, but the big swing against him at the last election suggests there was not many more personal votes to lose.
So everything suggests Labor should have done at least moderately well yesterday. But now consider the figures. It went backwards, and worse than Oppositions usually do in by-elections:

Average swing in a federal by-election after preferences: 5.1 per cent to the Opposition.
Average swing in a federal by-election in a Government’s first term: 1.7 per cent to the Opposition.
Swing in today’s Griffith by-election (with two thirds counted and before postal votes, which lean to the Coalition): 0.54 per cent to the Government.
Number of times a Government has won a seat from the Opposition in a by-election: one, in 1920.
Kevin Rudd’s share of primary vote in 2007: 53.09 per cent
Kevin Rudd’s share of primary vote in 2012: 43:06 per cent
Labor’s share of primary vote today (before postal votes): 39.57 per cent (down 1.77)
Bill Glasson’s share of vote today for LNP: 42.52 per cent (up 1.05)

Now for another frightening thing for Labor to ponder. The Abbott Government actually got into its stride over the past month by becoming assertive, even aggressive, and tough - specifically saying no to an SPC bailout, stridently defending the navy from claims of mistreating boat people, warning of the need to slash entitlements and taking on the ABC.
The Coalition may well decide safety lies in asserting itself and its agenda, and the signs suggest it will be rewarded for it.
Excellent.
UPDATELabor and the Greens confuse Abbott’s new confidence and success with their big chance:

Like sharks smelling blood, Labor and the Greens are stepping up their attacks, arguing that the government is finally revealing its true colours. We are now hearing the words ‘’ideology’’ and ‘’ideological’’ from their senior spokesmen almost daily.

And even the Age writer seems to sniff whose blood is really in that water now:

Treasurer Joe Hockey ... told the Lowy Institute on Thursday that: ‘’Too many taxpayers’ dollars have been spent on corporate and middle-class welfare and too often previous governments have been drawn into areas that are better left to the private sector.’’… There is no doubt the new government is wasting little time introducing its agenda, and many of its first priorities appear to have been lifted straight from the conservative script. It has moved on environmental issues (making good on its pre-election vow to try to reduce the amount of Tasmanian forests under World Heritage protection), union influence (with its planned restoration of the ABCC and the judicial inquiry into union rorts), climate change, the mining tax, cutting regulation and asylum seekers.

Labor is running scared on what the ABC and Fairfax newspapers have been running hardFirst this:

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has accused Labor of undermining ‘’the honour’’ of Defence personnel by calling for an independent inquiry into claims asylum seekers were deliberately burnt by navy personnel… On Saturday, Labor backbencher Matt Thistlethwaite told Sky News that to settle the issue once and for all, the claims should be independently investigated. ‘’We should be bringing a healthy scepticism to these claims but now they’ve been aired again by Fairfax, the appropriate course is to have them independently investigated,’’ he said.

LABOR has backflipped on its call for an inquiry into the navy over allegations of asylum seeker abuse, saying it has every confidence in the servicemen and women on the high seas. Opposition leader Bill Shorten on Saturday issued a statement clarifying Labor was not seeking an inquiry into the navy’s alleged conduct, despite earlier comments to the contrary by an opposition MP.

Feminism has nothing to do with the proposition that women should be considered whole and complete members of the body politic, though it has enjoyed great success marketing itself that way. A useful definition is this: “Feminism is the words ‘I Want!’ in the mouths of three or more women, provided they’re the right kind of women.” Feminism must therefore accommodate wildly incompatible propositions — e.g., (1) Women unquestionably belong alongside men in Marine units fighting pitched battles in Tora Bora but (2) really should not be expected to be able to perform three chin-ups.

The government will step up its attacks on Labor’s union links this week, with Employment Minister Eric Abetz moving on the first day of Parliament to inflame debate about Labor’s opposition to the building unions watchdog. The government’s legislation to revive the Australian Building and Construction Commission passed the lower house last year and is now before the Senate. But, with the government facing a hostile Senate until July 1, the Coalition’s legislation faces certain defeat. Instead, Senator Abetz ... will introduce a motion on Tuesday to bring on debate about the ABCC.

EAST West Link protesters admitted they are losing the “propaganda war"…Almost 30 protesters attended a three hour strategy meeting held at Fitzroy Pool on Alexander Parade yesterday afternoon, floating ideas to ramp up the anti-tunnel campaign. Tactics raised included parents bringing their children to boost numbers, questioning police at picket events, not allowing workers to leave drill sites and wearing business attire to prove some activists held jobs.

Hiding behind children. Hiding behind a tie. Strange how socialists these days do not dare to show themselves for what they are.
UPDATE
Socialists split, with some objecting to a socialist sounding too working class:

Socialist Party member Mel Gregson co-chaired the meeting with serial activist Anthony Main. Bizarrely Ms Gregson told the crowd divisions had grown among the protesters in respect to political ideologies as well as media tactics. She said some members of the group had raised an issue with Mr Main being the media spokesman because of his ‘bogan’ accent.

===“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” - Matthew 5:43-45

When a person is dear, everything connected with him becomes dear for his sake. Thus, so precious is the person of the Lord Jesus in the estimation of all true believers, that everything about him they consider to be inestimable beyond all price. "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia," said David, as if the very vestments of the Saviour were so sweetened by his person that he could not but love them. Certain it is, that there is not a spot where that hallowed foot hath trodden--there is not a word which those blessed lips have uttered--nor a thought which his loving Word has revealed--which is not to us precious beyond all price. And this is true of the names of Christ--they are all sweet in the believer's ear. Whether he be called the Husband of the Church, her Bridegroom, her Friend; whether he be styled the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world--the King, the Prophet, or the Priest--every title of our Master--Shiloh, Emmanuel, Wonderful, the Mighty Counsellor--every name is like the honeycomb dropping with honey, and luscious are the drops that distil from it. But if there be one name sweeter than another in the believer's ear, it is the name of Jesus. Jesus! it is the name which moves the harps of heaven to melody. Jesus! the life of all our joys. If there be one name more charming, more precious than another, it is this name. It is woven into the very warp and woof of our psalmody. Many of our hymns begin with it, and scarcely any, that are good for anything, end without it. It is the sum total of all delights. It is the music with which the bells of heaven ring; a song in a word; an ocean for comprehension, although a drop for brevity; a matchless oratorio in two syllables; a gathering up of the hallelujahs of eternity in five letters.

Many persons, if they are asked what they understand by salvation, will reply, "Being saved from hell and taken to heaven." This is one result of salvation, but it is not one tithe of what is contained in that boon. It is true our Lord Jesus Christ does redeem all his people from the wrath to come; he saves them from the fearful condemnation which their sins had brought upon them; but his triumph is far more complete than this. He saves his people "from their sins." Oh! sweet deliverance from our worst foes. Where Christ works a saving work, he casts Satan from his throne, and will not let him be master any longer. No man is a true Christian if sin reigns in his mortal body. Sin will be in us--it will never be utterly expelled till the spirit enters glory; but it will never have dominion. There will be a striving for dominion--a lusting against the new law and the new spirit which God has implanted--but sin will never get the upper hand so as to be absolute monarch of our nature. Christ will be Master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. The Lion of the tribe of Judah shall prevail, and the dragon shall be cast out. Professor! is sin subdued in you? If your life is unholy your heart is unchanged, and if your heart is unchanged you are an unsaved person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you, given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, he has done nothing in you of a saving character. The grace which does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves his people, not in their sins, but from them. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." If not saved from sin, how shall we hope to be counted among his people. Lord, save me now from all evil, and enable me to honour my Saviour.

Perhaps there is prophetic significance attached to Togarmah and "the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands" (Ezek. 38:6). Jewish writers of the past usually wrote of the "Turks" as Togarmah, and the Armenians as "The House of Targon." It is not difficult, therefore, to identify Togarmah as Armenia or Turkey, the people of which assert their descendancy from Targon, or the Togarmah of Scripture.

The ultimate alliance of Turkey, according to prophecy, is with the Northern Confederacy Ezekiel defines. Dr. Sale-Harrison observes: "It is interesting to note that in Scripture "The King of the North" is called "The Old Assyrian" and apparently arises out of the present "Turkish territory." In the final alignment of the nations then, Togarmah will be allied with the north.

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About Me

I'm author of History in a Year by the Conservative Voice aka History of the World in a Year by the Conservative Voice.

I'm the Conservative Voice.

I'm looking to make contact with those who might use my skill.

I have an m-audio mobile pre amp fed by the audiotechnica 2041sp condensor mic pack. Prior to 15/4/06, I'd used a Shure sm-58 that required a nuclear blast to register a sound or the internal mic of my aged imac, which has a penchance to recording my breathing. I also used a Griffin itrip, until the community convinced me it was not hiding my talent as well as the other mics.

I am a Writer and an occasional Math Teacher (Sir, what's the occasion?). I like to sing, having no instrumental talent (cannot even clap in time, and yes, I'm aware singing badly IS obnoxious).

I have performed the finale to Les Miserables before an audience of 500. I have also sung before a similar audience (students, parents) renditions of 'I Will' (Beatles), 'Mr Cairo' (Jon Vangelis) and 'I am Australian' (Seekers). Now I seek another profession because the audience hates me ..